Your Hiding Place
by Nakimochiku
Summary: don't tell them i'm here, kay? Hichi x Ichi, fluff, AU, really slight songfic, oneshot, enjoy!


Your Hiding Place

Soft orange hair was played with gently by an autumn breeze. the smell of salt drifted through the open window, obliterating the heavy disinfected stench that surrounded the clean white room. A quiet sigh escaped pink lips as molten chocolate eyes stared at an old photograph.

The ocean whispered condolences to him, the sounds reassuring yet useless. He didn't feel alive enough to really listen to what the ocean was telling him. The breeze grew colder as autumn crept up on the east coast, tearing through flimsy hospital garments.

The photograph was worn around the edges, a little yellow, crinkled a bit at the center. Two little girls smiled up at him, and a little boy held tightly in the arms of his father scowled at the camera. The teen sighed. It had been a long time since then. Rough fingertips traced along the glass of the frame, wishing to transport himself back to that time.

His ward of the hospital was empty. He spared a glance at the other stiff empty beds and released another sigh before turning his gaze back out the window. The closer it got to the time of his surgery, the less his friends wanted to visit him. Understandable, he supposed. Disease and illness was scary to most people. The mere fear of death was contagious. They didn't want to be around him if he could infect them.

The sound of running footsteps passed the door, loud enough to make Ichigo look up. He could hear the footsteps pause, then turn back. A lithe white headed boy slipped through the door, his back to Ichigo as he giggled, watching a few nurses rush by. "Fooled 'em!" he said to himself. He turned around, black and gold eyes widening as he caught sight of Ichigo. He knelt at the side of Ichigo's bed. "Don't tell 'em I'm here, 'kay?" with that, he crawled under the bed to hide.

Ichigo looked down, thin eyebrow raised as he watched a bare foot wiggle in plain view. There were a few sneezes and a curse of "fricken dust bunnies" before the other teen popped back out, crawling instead onto his bed. "You're not gonna ask what I'm here for?"

"Hiding from those big painful needles that Gin-san manages to make look painful?" it was clearly a good guess, because the other giggled, nodding and shifting closer to Ichigo. "They're good for you, you know." the red head whispered softly, his voice almost lost in the autumn breeze and the sound of swaying trees and rushing ocean. The pale boy buried his face in his lap, shaking his head as though to get rid of all thoughts concerning needles and gin and the fact that they were stuck in this freaking place.

The door to the ward open and in stepped Nurse Gin, grinning as usual as he held a needle filled with clear liquid. "There you are, Hichi-kun. Hiding with the little strawberry I see. Come on." the teen clung to Ichigo as Gin advanced, wailing.

"No, I'm gonna die! I don't _want_ anymore needles! NOOOO!" but, still grumbling, Hichigo pulled himself from the attractive red head, winking. "See you later, 'strawberry'." he giggled at the growl that was his reaction. As he left, he continued wailing about how horrible Gin's needles were, how much he just wanted to beat the 'fox-faced-bastard's' teeth in.

Ichigo turned back to the window, unknowing of the tiny smile on his lips. The photograph lay forgotten in his loose grip, his lap still warm from where the other had lain. He hadn't felt this warm in so long. Summer felt like such a long time ago. The ocean whispered to him of something he'd forgotten, and he let himself grin out right, looking twice as devious as the boy who'd just visited.

What an interesting secret the autumn wind had just told him.

--

he was looking at the photograph again when 'Hichi-kun' burst into the room, shouting curses back down the hallway. The teen stalked over to his bed by the window as if he owned the place, and greeted Ichigo with a chaste kiss, shocking the redhead as he watched the other kneel next to the bed and lay over his lap.

"Guten abend." he mumbled into the rough cotton of Ichigo's sheets. They sat like that in silence, for a few moments, neither able to think of anything to speak about. Not that they really wanted to. Talking about life outside the hospital always managed to make something in Ichigo's chest hurt. He felt warmth seep from Hichigo and spread through his body, and let his fingers rest in surprisingly soft white hair. Somehow he was expecting it to be rough and brittle.

Hichigo mumbled his approval somewhere in the back of his throat, snuggling deeper into the folds of the sheets as Ichigo ran his fingers through frosted locks. The red head glanced at the clear sky, watching the stars through the open window, numbering the patterns in his mind. He had enough time to count every single star. He hoped he did. He wanted to believe that he could simply grab a star without being burned and swallow it. He wanted to realize his dreams.

"You're my new hiding place." Hichigo said, looking up at the sky with him. Ichigo didn't bother asking what he meant. It was fairly strait forward. Even he had a hiding place in this hospital. He glanced at the photograph and frowned. Perhaps that hiding place was getting a bit old now?

Silence clung to the air in the room, forced down their throats when they tried to breathe. It made every hair stand on end, every soft rustle and breath cherished. Hichigo heaved himself up a bit, sitting nose to nose with Ichigo, staring into his darkened eyes. But it was Ichigo who broke the eye contact, and the silence.

"What are you so afraid of, here?" Hichigo stared up at the sky, snuggling back into Ichigo's lap.

"I've got a tumor, you know. And I just hate the fuss. I feel caged." Ichigo nodded. If was a familiar feeling. When one has been sitting still too long, they always have the temptation to run, just for the feeling of being free. Somehow, neither teen was offered that. "I don't want the surgery." the white haired boy mumbled, almost too quiet to be heard, almost droned out by the slap of the ocean against sand.

"But the surgery will make you better." tanned hands resumed the unintentional comfort of combing soft hair, exploring the delicate skin of the nape of Hichigo's neck, or the shell of his ear. But Hichigo shook his head.

"It's a fifty-fifty, really. Either the tumor will kill me, or the surgery will." their conversation lapsed into silence once more. The ocean said things for them that they weren't able to say. The autumn wind blew in and tousled with various things in the room, leaving them touched with the scent of decaying foliage and salt. Hichigo shivered, crawling onto the bed beside Ichigo, underneath the thin covers. "It's cold..."

The red head wouldn't let the subject drop so easily, putting off the task of closing the window for now. "But you know, if it's fifty fifty, there's still a chance. why bother–?" he was cut off as Hichigo grabbed him around the collar, violently smashing their lips together, teeth clacking as a talented tongue had it's way with his mouth, leaving him breathless.

"Ichigo?" Hichigo asked softly, oddly colored eyes smouldering, their breaths mingling. They weren't more than an inch apart. When Hichigo spoke, their lips brushed. He liked the way his name sounded on the other's tongue.

"Y-yea?"

"Shut up." Before Ichigo could rudely reply, those lips were over his again, driving out other thoughts as he combed his fingers through Hichigo's hair. Somehow, the soft strands in his fist felt entirely different. Deeming that he had effectively stupefied the other into silence, Hichigo lay back down in the red head's lap, giggling softly. "If you wanna be my hiding place, you're gonna have to be silent."

"But Hich–!"

The albino placed a finger over Ichigo's freshly kissed lips, smiling dangerously. "Shhh."

"_You're hiding in your safe place_

_hiding with your eyes shut tightly_

_on the way to the hospital."_

_Hospital, The Used_

OWARI

_nyomable, yea? I was doing a writing activity with loveable Kyunatsai_, _so I came up with this. I'm just hoping she didn't come up with the same thing. Better hurry up, miene fraulien, or I'll give you more words! Review, please! (bows)_


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